INDE – Pattanam - Pattanam means port city in the Prakrit language and even in current usage, like Valapattanam in Malabar or Nagapattanam in Tamil Nadu. Most of Kerala was part of the Chera kingdom of the ancient Tamilakam (ancient Tamil country, 3BC to 5AD). Excavations at Pattanam have unearthed artefacts like a 6m-long wooden canoe, a wharf, Chera coins and pottery belonging to various parts of the world. Their chronology established by stratigraphy, radiocarbon and Accelerator Mass Spectrometry dating have revealed that Pattanam was an urbanised and flourishing port. Studies continue to reveal new information on the critical role Pattanam played in the maritime trade network that involved 40 other contemporary sites extending from Rome in the west to Guangzhou on the Chinese Coast. The ancient seaport Muziris or Muchiri Pattinam is prominently mentioned in the Tamil Sangam and Greco-Roman literature, especially in the ancient Tamil epics of Silapathikaram and Manimekalai. Pattanam could have been an integral part of Muziris or probably Muziris itself.

SRI LANKA – Sigiriya - A conservation process of restoring the layer of plaster which separated the Sigiriya frescoes have commenced. The Department of Archaeology, said that as the restoration process of the Ccollapsed plaster has reached its final stages, other tampered areas of the Sigiriya frescoes are also being restored. Initial investigations have revealed that the increase in moisture between the rock and the plaster layer, as a result of the recent rains is the main reason for the detachment of the layer plaster layer. Moreover, the Department of Archaeology said that taking photographs inside the cave of Sigiriya frescoes will be banned from tomorrow as damage can be caused to the paintings by the light released from camera flashes.

TURQUIE – Şeytan Deresi - The walls of the Şeytan Deresi Canyon in Mersin are home to some of the most unique reliefs in the world, but a lack of formal protection has resulted in treasure hunters damaging the artwork despite the lack of any valuables in the area. “Treasure hunters dig these places for nothing and damage the reliefs. People carved their reliefs there in the ancient ages but established their graveyards in the main rocks in very different parts of the valley that cannot be discovered,” said Mersin University Archaeology Department Professor Serra Durugönül regarding the Adamkayalar (man-rocks) reliefs, which consist of 11 men, four women, two children, a mountain goat and an eagle. The reliefs, which dates from the second and third centuries B.C., are located in such a difficult location that even mountain goats experience difficulty in accessing them. Despite all the difficulties, the Adamkayalar region has been looted by treasure hunters for years even though no historical artifacts have been found there. The professor said she had first seen the region in 1980, noting that its situation was better then than today. “People living in that era established their graveyards in a variety of different places to protect them from robbers. Actually, it is impossible to find the places of these graves,” Durugönül said. “Nobody has so far succeeded in finding anything there because they can’t. There are similar geographical and topographical valleys like this one, but they don’t have such rich reliefs. It is possible to see various graveyards and reliefs while walking through the Şeytan Deresi Canton but all of them have been damaged.”

ROYAUME UNI – Tadcaster - Heavy rains and flooding have caused the partial collapse of Tadcaster Bridge into the River Wharfe. The limestone structure, one of two bridges that connect the two sides of the town of Tadcaster, dates back to 1700. The bridge had been closed to pedestrians and traffic three days before the collapse. The original Tadcaster Bridge is thought to have been constructed in 1200 with stones from Tadcaster Castle.